Watergate prosecutors had evidence Nixon aides planned attacks

President Richard Nixon was being investigated by prosecutors for his role in the Watergate scandal.

(AP)

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Operatives for former President Richard Nixon had planned to violently attack anti-war protesters and a Vietnam whistleblower, NBC News reported Sunday.

A memo written on June 5, 1975, by Watergate special prosecutor Nick Akerman and obtained by the network showed that prosecutors were investigating the alleged attacks by Nixon aides.

It states that during an investigation, prosecutors found evidence that Nixon operatives planned an “assault on antiwar demonstrators,” including Daniel Ellsberg — a former Pentagon official who had accused Nixon aides of stealing more than his medical records in attempts to discredit him — at a rally at the U.S. Capitol.

A memo obtained by NBC showed that Nixon operative had planned an attack on Vietnam whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.

(Anonymous/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The assault would be on “long-haired demonstrators, in particular Ellsberg,” the memo states.

Prosecutors determined then-White House counsel Charles Colson was behind the scheme, which he had denied.

Roger Stoner, a Donald Trump adviser, said had no knowledge of the White House’s scheme at the time, according to a memo.

(Brent N. Clarke/Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP)

Colson eventually pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection to stealing Ellsberg’s medical files, but he was never charged for his alleged role in the plot.

Another memo shows a conversation between Akerman and Roger Stone, a Donald Trump adviser who said he had gathered Republicans to join in on a counter-demonstration, but didn’t know about the White House’s plan to attack Ellsberg, NBC reported.

The memo states that Nixon knew about the plot and aides had informed him that if his links to operatives were revealed it “might someday hurt” him.